Rumpelstiltskin Gets Punished!
by rainshowers
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin was a bad boy! Belle caught him snooping about her room, reading her diary. He only wants to get to know her better. She'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget! Rumbelle smut.
1. Chapter 1

Rumpelstiltskin Gets Punished!

By Rainshowers

**Rumpelstiltskin was a bad boy! Belle caught him snooping about her room, reading her diary. He only wants to get to know her better. She'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget! It helps if you read my story "Every Deal Has A Price" for backstory to this stand-alone. This story is adult in nature and meant only for those over 18.**

Rumpelstiltskin sat at his wheel, spinning more gold than he ever needed. He spun to forget his weaknesses, his cowardice, and his anger. He wanted to forget his pain in losing Bae and especially his Belle. She didn't remember him. Would she ever?

He held a teacup between his cracked fingers and sipped. The delicate taste of chrysanthemum flowed over his tongue. Belle had the tea delivered since she was too frightened to go outside and venture to the shops herself. Agorophobic after being locked in a tower for God knows how many years, the great outdoors terrified her. It was only with Rumpelstiltskin's help was she able to venture into his garden to sit in his swing; at first by his side and eventually alone.

The sound of shoes tapping on the floor broke him out of his daydream. He looked up to see Belle stomping towards him, a murderous look marring her lovely face. _Oh, my! Why is she so mad?_

When she held out the small book, she looked him square in the eye, clearly demanding he speak.

"So you read my diary? Did you find what you wanted to find?"

"I told you I was sorry about that, Dearie. When will you ever forgive me?"

The smile that cracked her face promised torments even worse than he could imagine, and he could imagine quite a bit. She leafed through the book and held it out, open to a page. "Did you see this?"

He leaned over and read. Oh, yes, he definitely saw _that_. He raised his gaze to her beet-red face, a flush of shame and excitement creeping up his own. What she had shown him had given him fevered fantasies and hot dreams for the past two nights.

"Yes, I saw that." He said.

"Would you like to do something like that to me?" Her gaze did not leave his face, and he refused to break eye contact with her since her meaning was very clear.

He paused. What answer could he possibly give her that wouldn't land him in a world of trouble? "Only if you want me to."

She threw the book aside, and pulled two long silk scarves out of her pocket. "I've wanted to do this to you since not long after we met. Stand up."

He remained seated.

"I said stand up!"

He stood, figuring it was better to obey her than to feel more of her wrath rain down on his head. She took his right hand and tied his wrist to the spinning wheel. When he protested, since he didn't like to be restrained, she shushed him. Without saying a word, she grabbed his other hand and tied his left wrist to the spinning wheel.

"You deserve to be punished, Rumpelstiltskin, for invading my privacy. Those words in that diary were my private thoughts and wishes. You had no business snooping. And for that you deserve a swift swat on the bum."

_SMACK!_ Pain roared through his backside, causing him to tip forward and nearly topple over with the spinning wheel. He looked over his shoulder to see a long wooden spatula in her hand.

She _spanked_ him! And he was disturbed and delighted to realize he _liked_ it!

"You felt that? Did you enjoy it?" Belle's deep voice filled with menace – and promise. "I think you deserve more, but you can't feel the full impact through your trousers." She reached around the front of his pants to his loud protests and unbuttoned them. They dropped to the floor, leaving him standing in front of his spinning wheel, wrists tied fast, dressed in a shirt, vest, and knickers. Before he could protest more that spatula came down again across his buttocks.

SMACK! SMACK! Oh, the sweet, exquisite pain! He doubled over, feeling a stirring down below he hadn't felt in a long time. Not even his nightly fantasies of Belle's lovely body tied down the way the marquis had restrained her in her tower as he read in her dairy matched his current state.

She liked it rough.

"So you want to do to me what the marquis has done? How's this for a start? You've been a very naughty boy, Rumpelstiltskin, for reading a girl's diary. Do you deserve to be punished?"

"Yes, I do, Dearie. I already told you that but keep punishing me if you feel you need to." He hoped she would continue spanking him. He hadn't felt so aroused and thrilled in years.

"I do, and you shall call me Mistress when you stand before me like this. Not Dearie."

"Yes, Dea – er… I mean, _Mistress_."

"Good boy! For that you get a reward." The spatula sailed down once again to make contact with his tender flesh. The pain roared through his backside and slammed into his groin with intense pleasure. He never thought he was into pain but he wanted it and he wanted more of it – but only from Belle. His intense arousal caused his legs to buckle. Breathe came in raspy gasps and his heart thundered in his chest. Her fingernails raked against his back, eliciting shivers of excitement up and down his spine. She tapped the spatula on his sore bum, promising more delightful pain if he followed his orders.

Without warning, she reached around and grabbed him, making his entire body go stiff. Rigid and aroused, she stroked him as she whispered in his ear.

"Will you ever go through my things again?" She stroked slowly, and it felt so good!

"If it makes you act this way towards me, definitely."

She yanked hard. He jumped.

"Will you ever go through my things again _without my permission_?" She whispered in his ear.

"No, Mistress."

"If you want to know anything about me, will you simply ask me?"

"Yes, Mistress." He closed his eyes to fully enjoy her fondling. Blood rushed past his eyelids in waves timed with the urgent beat of his heart. He had no idea his Belle was so… wicked.

"Do you like what I'm doing now?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Mistress!"

"Then wait for me in your bed in a few hours before you go to sleep. I'll let you act out a little of what is in my diary. If you are good."

"I promise to be good, Mistress."

"Here is your reward." _SMACK!_ When pain filled his backside, he couldn't hold it in anymore and his arousal released all over his spun gold. She stroked him until he finished, and then she tucked him in, pulled up his pants, untied him, and left him alone by his spinning wheel.

Spinning gold would never be the same ever again.


	2. Chapter 2 She Drives Him Crazy

**Bad boys deserve to be punished, and Rumpelstiltskin was a very bad boy! Belle caught him reading her diary and she treated him to a very erotic thrashing. She told him more was to come when he went to bed that night, and she meant that in every sense of the word "come". :) As Rumpelstiltskin lies in his bed asleep, someone comes to visit him…**

Rumpelstiltskin lay buried beneath his sheets and blankets with only his nose and lips sticking out. He hid in his bed like a turtle. He drifted in twilight sleep, that alternate universe between reality and when fantasies come alive.

Something soft and airy alighted on his nose, tickling him. He wiggled his nose and snorted. Fatigue settled on him like mist on a quiet meadow. Tendrils settled on his nose again, and he swatted them away. Eyes blinking away the revenants of sleep, he stared ahead, unable to focus.

A feather dusted his face. Annoyed, he smacked at it, but it homed in on his nose once again. Childish giggling floated above him as his sheets and blankets yanked from his body. Exposed, lying atop the mattress dressed only in in his cleanest nightshirt, he curled his body into a ball hoping to hide from whatever or whoever lurked in his room. Night chill descended upon him, rendering his skin into goosebumps.

His eyes focused onto a grinning Belle as she climbed atop his mattress and straddled his body. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close.

"What took you? I waited for you but you didn't show."

"I waited for you to fall asleep. I wanted to catch you unawares." She leaned into his neck and inhaled. "I see you bathed and put on your finest nightshirt before retiring for the evening. Were you expecting a guest?"

"Don't be coy, Dearie."

"You know to not call me "Dearie" when we play our little game. By the way, you snore. Not a cute little snore. A "train is coming" snore. It's quite loud." He suspected he snored but he did not respond. What could he say? It's not like he had any past lovers who reminded him he sounded like a foghorn on a stormy night.

She pulled a black scarf from her skirt pocket. "Are you ready for more punishment, you naughty boy?"

"I'm at your beck and call, Mistress." He smiled. "Are you going to tie my wrists with that?"

"No. Even better. I'm going to blindfold you with it." She pulled herself free from his embrace and tied the scarf around his head and eyes. "Can you see?"

"I'm as blind as a man in love."

Her giggle rivaled his own in its mischievous mirth. So she chose to mock his sentiments? Disappointed and desperate, he reached for her but her thin fingers wrapped around his left hand. Cool silken fabric entwined his wrist and then his arm pulled out until it was stretched full to the edge of the four-poster bed. She repeated her effort with his right hand. Since she sat astride his body, it was unnecessary to restrain his ankles.

Unaccustomed to lacking control, he chafed at the restraints, attempting with futile desperation to free himself. The harder he fought the tighter the restraints became. What manner of infernal knots did she tie? He struggled, writhing against the mattress, but the moment he felt her lips against his neck he stopped moving. His heart trip-hammered in his chest, his pulse beating against her hot lips that settled in butterfly kisses along his shoulders as she unbuttoned and lowered his nightshirt until it bunched at his waist.

A shock of cold on his chest took his breath away. It trailed from his left nipple, down his breastbone, and settled on his rib cage. He shook with goosebumps at the intense chill.

"You like that?" Belle whispered in his ear as she rubbed the ice cube against his stomach. He shivered with delight as icy water dripped down his side. She tortured him yet he couldn't get enough of it! He wanted _more_!

"Don't stop. I'll do whatever you wish." He begged.

"Of course you will, my love. Do you like the ice cube?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"The marquis tortured me with ice when he visited me in the tower. You read it in my diary – the very diary you read without my permission. You now must pay penance for doing that." She slid the ice cube along his thighs. "Does it feel agonizing?"

"Sheer torture. Don't let my distress stop you from enjoying yourself, though."

"No chance of that happening. Would you like to feel something warm now?"

"Definitely, Mistress."

Her tongue heated his skin when she took him in her mouth. Surprised at her boldness, he arched his back in honor of her talent, riding a wave of sweet ecstasy as she worked her will on him. _She can have me any way she wants, any time she wants. I'll be her slave if that's what she so desires._ He grew hard and firm in her mouth, so hard he threatened to burst too soon but before he could she withdrew her luscious mouth, much to his great disappointment. He whimpered for her to continue, but instead he felt a second ice cube against his jaw.

"Do you like that?"

"I hate it. You torture me."

She playfully slapped in on the arm. "You tease! I'll give you more if you do something for me."

Ah, so she's learned to barter from her own master! "Name it. I'll do anything you want."

She rubbed the ice cube against his lips, and slid it into his mouth.

It wasn't an ice cube.

It was a cherry popsicle.

"You do for me what I just did for you and I'll do it over and over again until you spurt blood."

"I'll do it but I suspect cherry isn't the most appropriate flavor for you."

She bounced the popsicle on his ample nose. Her warm tongue licked off the juice before it could dribble down his face. "Just please me the way you want me to please you and you'll get your just reward."

Before he could respond with anything other than a grunt in the affirmative she sat astride his face. Her musky scent sailed up his nose, the sweetest smell in his world. He licked, tasting her ambrosia, which was just as sweet. He moved to wrap his arms around her but the scarves held his wrists against the four-poster bed. His muffled words begged her to untie him but she couldn't hear him with a mouthful of Belle. Giving up his power of speech, he concentrated on pleasing her the only way he ever wanted to for the rest of his life.

She squirmed atop him as his tongue lashed back and forth, tickling and teasing her in just the right way. Her hands alighted on his shaft and she stroked him until his head burst with stars. He licked in time with her strokes, tempting her sensitive bud whilst she tapped him in his most sensitive spots.

She twisted her body until she lay next to him, her heat in his mouth and his shaft in her own. Her mouth chilled him, since she sucked on that popsicle before going down on him. The chill exhilarated his growing erection. He noticed in a fleeting observation that she wore no clothing. She must have removed her garments after she blindfolded him. How he longed to run his hands down her soft body, but he could not move. The restraints made his predicament much more exciting than it otherwise would have been. She knew just what to do to him to drive him mad! He didn't care she learned her technique from that handsome marquis. She was _his_ now, and he'd _never_ let her go.

His mind's eye flashed on her lying spread-eagle beneath the marquis, with the man thrusting away at her. Then suddenly, as daydreams are wont to do, he saw himself atop her, giving her his greatest pleasure. She writhed next to him, tightened her body, and with a pained mewling her entire being thrashed with the first orgasm he ever experienced with her. Feeling her coming next to him and listening to her stimulating moans aroused him so much he came harder than he ever had before. She stroked him with that talented mouth until she sucked him dry. He groaned deep-throated moans as his orgasm subsided, and he collapsed next to her on the bed. Out of breath, he wheezed as his heartbeat and breathing returned to their normal pace.

Without saying a word, Belle pulled away from him. He felt her hands untie the knots around his wrists. Once released, he massaged his sore wrists and reached for the blindfold.

She grabbed his hands. "Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast, my love. I'm not finished with you yet."

What else could she possibly do to him that wouldn't exhaust him even more?


	3. Chapter 3 Food Porn

**It's the next morning, and Rumpelstiltskin and Belle had a long, hard, and busy night. Will she let him off the hook for reading her diary? Or does she have other games in mind to play with him? Won't the poor man ever get a break?**

Rumpelstiltskin stumbled into his living room, eyes half shut, and the smell of coffee and spicy sausages wafted around his head. He did not see Belle dressed only in thigh high stockings and a disarming smile.

He rubbed the cobwebs of sleep from his eyes and did a double take at the sight of his favorite kinky girl straddling his favorite chair.

"Good morning, my pet. Did you sleep well?" Her voice rose and fell and rose again like the front of his pants. She continued in that sing-songy voice.

"Yes, I did. Are you still mad at me?"

"I might be. I still want to punish you."

"If you feel I need punishing, please do it. I look forward to it, especially if you're going to be dressed like _that_."

She rested both hands on his shoulders. "Are we hungry this morning?"

"It depends." He grinned, eager to play her little game. He eyed up that heavenly space between her thighs. "What am I going to eat?"

"I've prepared a scrumptious breakfast for you. You'll need energy for what we'll do this morning."

"And what might that be?"

She poked him on the chest with one long finger. "You'll see, oh, you'll see. Now sit down here and let me feed you."

Not wanting to argue with her, since he craved her touch, he sat down as she swung her hips with each step towards his stove. Her backside mesmerized him as she leaned on one hip. The heady smell of cooked bacon and peppery eggs sailed up his nose. Mmmm… he was hungry, for both food and Belle's sweet body.

She sauntered towards him, and poured hot, steaming coffee into a mug on the table in front of him. It colored light since she had already added cream and lots of sugar, just the way he liked it. He lifted the mug and sipped, savoring the robust taste of the brew against his tongue. Nothing pleased him like a mug of hot coffee in the morning.

She sat a plate of food in front of him and he picked up his fork to eat, but she slapped his hand away. The fork sailed to the floor, causing a clamoring that jarred him fully awake.

"No, my love. I shall feed you. You'll enjoy your breakfast as you never have before. Here, turn towards me." She gripped the seat of his chair – with him in it – and jerked it until he faced her. The plate of food on the table sat at his side and Belle perched on a chair in front of him, legs spread, eager and waiting for him. But first, food.

"You're not going to tie me down?" He winked, wanting to see how much he could get away with.

"Not now. Be patient. That comes later. As you will come later." She giggled, a sound that rivaled his own giggle. The longer the two of them stayed together, the more they sounded alike, to his utter delight. She speared some scrambled eggs on a second fork and held it to his mouth. "Take and eat."

"Then may I eat you?"

"Bad boy!" She poked him in the ribs with her finger, causing him to jump. "You eat first. Then you eat later." There was that delightful giggle again. He opened his mouth and she inserted the fork. Pepper and garlic exploded on his tongue. He had never cooked eggs with garlic before.

"Delicious! You know how to take care of me." He swallowed, enjoying the scrumptious taste. "Those eggs were softer than what I'm used to. Why is that?"

"My special ingredient."

"A special ingredient, Dearie?" He reached for her but she slapped his hands away. "Are you putting a spell on me?"

"I don't have to put a spell on you. You're already smitten. Now be quiet and eat. Tell me what you taste. Close your eyes." She skewered morsel of sausage and fed it to him. He closed his eyes and chewed, savoring the spices flavoring the meat. "I taste pork and beef, the best in the village since I buy only the best."

"Go on…"

"Rosemary, thyme, tarragon – that makes it a bit sweet – garlic and onion. Am I missing something?"

"Yes. Watch me." She walked to the stove, picked up a sausage, and slid it in her mouth. She moved that sausage against her tongue slowly as if she made love to it. Rumpelstiltskin felt a stirring in his groin that begged for release. She removed the sausage from her mouth and ran it down her neck, catching her sweat. Finally, she shoved it between her cleavage, giving him a view he'd never forget. With a smile, she then tossed the sausage into the frying pan where it sizzled and popped, much like he felt like doing at that very moment.

She spread her legs. "I can season your other sausages in a different place if you like."

"Let me do it for you." He rose and walked over to her. Taking a fat sausage between his thin fingers, he slid it along her thighs until it reached her bush. Then, he slid it between her folds without inserting it into her. Beside himself with desire, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and worked that sausage until it was warm from her heat. With a grunt, he tossed it onto the frying pan and wrapped his other arm around her. He lowered his head and kissed her on the throat.

"My, Rumpelstiltskin, you're quite amorous before you've even finished your first cup of coffee."

"I don't like to waste time."

"What about your breakfast?"

He slipped one finger between her folds and then put it in his mouth. "It can wait. There's something else I'd rather eat anyway."

Belle had enough composure – unlike Rumpelstilstkin – to turn off the fire. By the time they retreated to the bedroom, the sausages were black, but Rumpelstiltskin didn't care. He had all the nutrition he needed lying in his bed with him.


	4. Chapter 4 From Slave To Master

**First, thank you everyone who wrote reviews. I'm delighted you like my story. And now, to continue…**

**What excitement awaits Rumpelstiltskin and Belle _this_ time? Although Belle thinks she rules their little games, Rumpelstiltskin has his own game planned for her. Now it's time to get her over her fear of going outside. Please read my story "Every Deal Has A Price" for backstory about Belle's fear.**

Belle led him into the bedroom, but he took her by the hands and stopped her before she reached his bed.

"I have a delightful surprise for you, my sweet," The mirth in his voice sent ripples up and down his spine. Oh, what joys awaited her! She'd cooped herself up in his home for weeks. It was time for that to stop and he knew exactly what to do to ease her fear of the great outdoors. His plan required him to take over the reins of their little power plays for the time being.

He pointed to the bed. A spiked leather collar and lead sat on the mattress.

A smile crept across her face, brightening her eyes. "Ah, so you want to take over and rule me for awhile? I accept that. I like to switch off. What do you have in mind?"

He picked up the collar and snapped it open. "Let me fasten this around your neck and parade you about town. I want to show you off to everyone within spitting distance." He picked up a ball gag from the bed. "You will also wear this. No speaking unless I allow it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Yes, what?" He snapped the collar around her neck. Damn, she looked drop dead sexy with her neck in a leather brace!

"Yes, Master!"

"And that will be the last word you'll speak until I give you permission to speak. Do you understand?" He fastened the ball gag around her head. She nodded, her eyes bright with excitement.

She shivered in the morning chill. Goosebumps rose on her arms. _Good! She's at my mercy!_ He guided her to his bed, helping her to sit. He took one leg in his hand and rolled her stocking down. With a flourish, he tossed it across the room. As he did the same to her other stocking, she was overcome with a fit of the giggles. Within seconds she sat before him as naked as the day she was born.

"Now I shall dress you. You will wear what I tell you to wear. No protests." His grin cracked his face. "Not that you will protest once you see what I have for you. You're not the only one with surprises, Dearie."

He reached into her closet and pulled out a large bag. Delighted at the surprise on her face, he reached inside and pulled out a pair of tight black leather pants. There was nothing sexier than dressing a naked woman. He was glad he bathed and dressed before she served him her sensuous breakfast. Now, he stood before her fully clothed and she was vulnerable in her nudity. Belle was like his personal living doll, his to dress up and do with as he pleased. He liked being in control. The ability to switch from Slave to Master pleased him very much.

"These pants will fit you like a second skin. I must oil you before you wear them." He grabbed a bottle of massage oil from a dresser and popped the cap open. Robust thyme and rosemary scents wafted around his head. He poured some oil onto his palms and rubbed them together. " Now, spread your legs apart."

The ecstatic look on her face pleased him, but what lay between her legs pleased him more. He wanted to give her a taste of her own tantalizing medicine. Starting at her ankles, he massaged the oil into her skin. His fingers worked her calves until her muscles loosened under his touch. Once he reached her thighs she moaned with delight, and when he found her heat she gasped.

"You like that?" Hoarse with desire, he slipped his fingers to her sweetest spot and massaged until her knees buckled. She bent over, raking her long fingernails against his back. He lifted her and laid her on the bed. "Now that you're nice and slick, I'll slide you into your new pants."

Her legs slid into the pants legs like a knife cutting through butter. He pulled her to her feet and yanked the pants up. He zipped them. "Turn around. Slowly. I want to look at you."

Her ass filled out the seat, looking like a ripe peach dressed in leather. The seam cleaved her in half, just the way he wanted. He felt himself growing beneath his trousers. The leather caressed her legs, making him want to take her right there on his bed. But he had plans for her. Enticing plans.

He reached into the bag and pulled out a black leather corset. Before fitting it around her, he grasped her by the arm and pulled her towards him. She gasped, taken by surprise as he planned. He liked shocking her. Doing something she didn't expect excited him; gave him the power he enjoyed so much. He pulled the ball gag from her mouth, and before she could speak, he pressed his lips to hers. His tongue parted her lips, slipping in, making her melt in his arms. He squeezed one breast so hard she mewled with pleasure. When he released her from his amorous grip, he snapped the corset in place. Then, he pushed the gag back into her mouth.

She stood before him, wrapped in supple leather, gagged, and collared for his pleasure. He shoved her on the bed, much to her growing consternation. Her eyes widened with shock, and he enjoyed seeing her distress.

He read her diary, after all. He knew what she liked.

He pulled a pair of thigh-high leather fuck-me boots from his bag. With a bit of roughness, he slid her legs into the boots. Once in place, he pulled her to her feet. She wobbled for a moment but gained her balance. What he was about to tell her would frighten her but he knew she needed to do what he told her or she would never leave the house. It was time for her to lose her agoraphobia.

"Now, we go to town. I will get you used to leaving the house and you will enjoy it. You are not to speak. You are to touch nothing. You are to look at no one unless I give you permission. Do you understand?"

She nodded, but her eyes widened with terror. He knew she would quake at stepping so much as past his garden gate. He'd get her to town if she kicked and screamed the whole way.

"You will be safe with me. I'll see to it. There is nothing to fear."

He took her by the hand and led her outside into the bright sunlight.


	5. Chapter 5 Sweets For The Sweet

**I'm so sorry it's been so long between chapters. I've been very sick for a month. I'll try to keep up better from now on. ;)**

**I hope you like this chapter. Please feel free to leave reviews for me.**

The moment Rumpelstiltskin entered the square with Belle stumbling behind him in her fuck-me boots, all heads turned. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. A few shoppers dropped their bags, not noticing the apples and oranges that rolled against the cobblestones. Dogs ceased barking and stared, their heads cocked to the side as if not quite believing what they saw.

Rumpelstiltskin held his head high with a smile cracking his angular face. Belle resisted walking beyond his gate at first but after remembering to breathe deeply, she slowly made it into town. He knew how terrified she was of leaving his yard, let alone leaving home. He needed to cure her of her agoraphobia. As she walked into town, she didn't panic, not even once, and he was proud of her because of that. In fact, he was so proud she deserved a reward.

He stopped at a candy vendor and looked over the chocolate-covered dried fruits, chocolate covered pretzels, and candy pebbles. When he saw the bowl of chocolate walnut fudge, he smiled. Sweets for the sweet!

The shopkeeper cowered before him, shaking so hard she seemed to waver in the wind. _Ah, this one is caught up on her rent. No need to bully money out of her._ He was in too good a mood to bully anyway. When he had the attention of every person and animal within spitting distance, he was in his element.

"Hello, Dearie. I'll take one piece of fudge. No need to wrap it up." Rumpelstiltskin felt generous. He tossed a gold coin on the table. It spun for a few moments before falling flat. "Keep the change".

The shopkeeper quickly picked up the piece of fudge in a bit of parchment paper and handed it to him. He nodded his thanks and turned to Belle.

"Because you've been such a good sport and you haven't dissolved into a puddle of scared goo upon leaving my home, you get a reward, Dearie." He unhooked her ball gag. She swallowed and licked her lips, her gaze on the sweet morsel of confection as he held it in front of her. She opened her mouth and leaned in towards it but he pulled it away, just out of her reach.

"On your knees."

She complied, but she didn't look at him. She stared at the ground.

"Look at me."

She raised her head and stared at him with soulful, wide eyes. Her tongue darted over her lips, eagerly anticipating the fudge.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Master."

"Will you do anything I tell you to do?"

"Yes, Master."

"Look to your right. Do you see the dressmaker?"

She looked. "Yes."

"Yes, what?"

She smiled. "Yes, Master."

He looked at the gown on the dressmaker's dummy showcased in front of the table full of shirts and sweaters. "I know you've had your eye on that gown for some time now. The last time I brought you down here you couldn't stop staring at it." He took her by the chin and turned her face towards his. "If you can walk to the gown by yourself from here, you may have it. Do you want it?"

"Very much so, Master."

"Then stand up." She obeyed his orders and stood quickly. Eyes gaping wide with curiosity and a little bit of dread, she waited while he toyed with the chain attached to her collar. Then, taking her completely by surprise, he reached up and unhooked the collar, removing it from around her neck.

"You are completely free of me now. Walk to the gown and it's yours."

She froze in place, the color draining from her face.

"You can do it. There's nothing to be afraid of. You don't need to hang on to me to feel safe. I'm right here. Not going anywhere. Walk to the gown and it's yours."

She took a tentative step forward and stopped. Eagerness and panic crossed her face. He knew how hard this was for her, walking about alone in such a large, noisy, and busy space. She'd been cooped up in her tower for so long she grew terrified of open spaces like the square. He was determined to rid her of her fear once and for all. Maybe a reward like that gown was just the incentive she needed to move the few yards out of his reach.

"Go ahead. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm scared. I'd rather you walked with me."

He gave her a warm smile. "Not if you want that gown. Take one step at a time. You can do it."

She sighed, a ragged sound that came from deep in her chest. Swallowing hard, she took another tentative step, then another. After what seemed like forever, she reached the gown, and quickly turned to look for him. He saw the panic in her face but her triumph overcame her fear. She grinned at him, and even laughed a little.

He rushed to her side and held the fudge to her face. "Open your mouth. Here's your first reward." She opened her mouth and took a bite of fudge. "Good?"

"Delicious."

"Take it. It's yours. And now let's buy that gown for you."

A lilting voice interrupted his little game. "Well what do we have here? You let your little bird out of her cage."

He turned to see Regina smiling at him in that guileful way of hers. Dressed from head to toe in tight leather, she looked nearly as fetching as Belle.

"We'll take the gown," he said to the shopkeeper, whose face beamed with pride at the huge sale. "Wrap it, Dearie." He turned to Regina, his eyebrows raised in wonder at what insults would come out of her mouth this time. "I forgot this shopkeeper is your personal dressmaker."

"Yes, she is." She eyed up Belle from head to toe. "Interesting get-up. You're enjoying yourself."

"So are you." Regina paraded around town dressed in similar tight clothing all the time and she liked the attention she received. "What brings you to town?"

"I'm here to pick up a pair of leather boots." She looked at Belle. "We're about the same size. We'll have to trade clothes sometime." She smiled. "Just like old girlfriends."

"I can't see you having girlfriends at all."

She laughed. "You're probably right." The shopkeeper handed her a large box and Regina handed her several gold coins. "Well, I must be off. You two…" She shook her head at the sight of the collar and lead in Rumpelstiltskin's hands. "… have a lovely day." Before he could respond, she turned and walked away.

"Well, that was amusing." He muttered as a second shopkeeper emerged with the dress box. He hoisted it under one arm and took Belle by the hand. "You did well today, my love. Let's head home. Tomorrow we may take a walk by the lake. You'd like that?"

"Yes, I would. I love the lake."

"We'll make a picnic of it." He pulled her close and kissed her, hard. "Once we get home, let's enjoy the rest of the afternoon."

She grinned. "I have the same thing in mind."

As they retreated from the square, they did not pay attention to the gaping stares that followed them down the road. He knew Belle was quite a sight, dressed in leather bondage gear. The lead served its purpose – it gave her a sense of security. She was literally firmly attached to him. Now that she walked alone by his side, he was happy to see she strolled with comfort and ease. Soon, she would be able to visit the square by herself. He loved her enough to help her roam free, as she should. He had the confidence of knowing she'd always return to him.

At least, he hoped she would.


End file.
